Spelling Bee Summary May 2026
In the month of MAY 2026, 64 words were added to the Bee lexicon, and 1 word was discontinued, for a net gain of 63 words.
Here's a summary of what came and went, along with a few notes about the month’s pangrams (numbers, types, and more), the lengths of the daily word lists, the rates at which the dreaded/adored -ED and -ING suffixes appeared, how often the BINGO characteristic appeared, center letter distribution, the complete list of pangrams and “Ins and Outs” in the month, and more.
Here's a summary of what came and went, along with a few notes about the month’s pangrams (numbers, types, and more), the lengths of the daily word lists, the rates at which the dreaded/adored -ED and -ING suffixes appeared, how often the BINGO characteristic appeared, center letter distribution, the complete list of pangrams and “Ins and Outs” in the month, and more.
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Puzzles of Interest
Spelling Bee of 2026-05-09: Eighth anniversary of the online edition of the Spelling Bee, which had its debut on May 9, 2018. The occasion was marked by Beeatrice’s donning her party hat as shown HERE, and by the presence of the words EIGHT and EIGHTH in the solution set. Bee editor Sam Ezersky noted the occasion, and the apt words, here:https://x.com/thegridkid/status/2053117346802217371
Spelling Bee of 2026-05-16: The letter set for the Bee of 2026-05-16 was A E H N O P T, with center letter A, and three pangrams, PANTHEON, PHAETON, and PHONATE. This puzzle marked the third use of this letter set; the previous uses were on 2022-01-04 with center letter H, and 2023-12-26 with center letter O. In both of those earlier puzzles, the sole pangram was PANTHEON, and in both cases, PHAETON, and PHONATE had been specifically disallowed. Thus, the Bee of 2026-05-16 was the first time in which all three pangrams appeared together, and in fact, PHAETON, and PHONATE made their débuts that day. The use of pangrams that had been previously disallowed is a new phenomenon in Spelling Bee history, and has been occurring with increasing frequency, as reported HERE.
Spelling Bee of 2026-05-29: The Spelling Bee of 2026-05-29 was only the third puzzle in Bee history to include letter S, presumably to mark the birthday of Bee editor Sam Ezersky. As happened the first two times that the Bee included S, the solution set included a large number of new words for the Bee lexicon. More details on this special Bee and the other "S" Bees may be found HERE.
Spelling Bee of 2026-05-29: The Spelling Bee of 2026-05-29 was only the third puzzle in Bee history to include letter S, presumably to mark the birthday of Bee editor Sam Ezersky. As happened the first two times that the Bee included S, the solution set included a large number of new words for the Bee lexicon. More details on this special Bee and the other "S" Bees may be found HERE.
Summary of Ins and Outs
In the month of MAY 2026, 64 words were added to the Bee lexicon, and 1 word was discontinued, for a net gain of 63 words.
61 new words were added that had never been used before, nor previously disallowed (IN)03 words were added that had been previously disallowed (OUT-IN)00 words that had been earlier allowed, then disallowed, were allowed again (IN-OUT-IN)00 words that had been disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed, then allowed again (OUT-IN-OUT-IN)-----64 total words added
- 1 words that had been previously allowed, now disallowed (IN-OUT)- 0 words that had been disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed again (OUT-IN-OUT)- 0 words that had been allowed, then disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed again (IN-OUT-IN-OUT)- 0 words that had been disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed (OUT-IN-OUT-IN-OUT)------ 1 total words removed
Net gain: 63 words
Words were added (or restored) on 11 days this month.Words were removed on 1 day this month.No words were added or removed on 19 days this month.
61 new words were added that had never been used before, nor previously disallowed (IN)03 words were added that had been previously disallowed (OUT-IN)00 words that had been earlier allowed, then disallowed, were allowed again (IN-OUT-IN)00 words that had been disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed, then allowed again (OUT-IN-OUT-IN)-----64 total words added
- 1 words that had been previously allowed, now disallowed (IN-OUT)- 0 words that had been disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed again (OUT-IN-OUT)- 0 words that had been allowed, then disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed again (IN-OUT-IN-OUT)- 0 words that had been disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed (OUT-IN-OUT-IN-OUT)------ 1 total words removed
Net gain: 63 words
Words were added (or restored) on 11 days this month.Words were removed on 1 day this month.No words were added or removed on 19 days this month.
WORD COUNTS, BINGO, -ING, -ED
CENTER LETTERS
Highest: 69Lowest: 16Average (Mean): 46.19Median: 48Mode(s): 27, 47, 63
The BINGO characteristic was present in 18 of 31 puzzles (58.06%)
The E+D combination was present in 7 of 31 puzzles (22.58%)The I+N+G combination was present in 4 of 31 puzzles (12.90%)
The BINGO characteristic was present in 18 of 31 puzzles (58.06%)
The E+D combination was present in 7 of 31 puzzles (22.58%)The I+N+G combination was present in 4 of 31 puzzles (12.90%)
13 different center letters were used during the month.
A report of all center letters in Spelling Bee history may be seen HERE.
Frequency order:
6 A5 C5 L3 O3 T2 G1 E1 I1 K1 M1 N1 P1 U
Alphabetical order:
6 A5 C1 E2 G1 I1 K5 L1 M1 N3 O1 P3 T1 U
6 A5 C1 E2 G1 I1 K5 L1 M1 N3 O1 P3 T1 U
PANGRAMS AND LETTER SETS
Monthly total: 49Daily average: 1.58 per puzzleDaily pangram numbers:6 in 0 puzzles (00.00%)5 in 0 puzzles (00.00%)4 in 1 puzzles (03.26%)3 in 5 puzzles (16.13%)2 in 5 puzzles (16.13%)1 in 20 puzzles (64.52%)
Of the 31 Bee puzzles this month:
4 (12.90%) were based on pangrams and letter sets that had never been used before. These 4 puzzles introduced 10 new pangrams and added a total of 51 new words to the Bee lexicon, an average of 12.75 new words per puzzle.
27 (87.10%) were based on pangrams and letter sets that had been used before. These 27 puzzles used 38 recycled pangrams, introduced two pangrams previously disallowed (read more HERE), and added a total of 13 new words to the Bee lexicon, an average of 0.48 new words per puzzle.
Of the 27 puzzles with repeat letter sets and repeat pangrams:06 letter sets were used for the second time10 letter sets were used for the third time09 letter sets were used for the fourth time02 letter sets were used for the fifth time
Average “age” of all pangrams and letter sets this month: 2.97Average “age” of recycled pangrams and letter sets this month: 3.26
Of the 31 Bee puzzles this month:
4 (12.90%) were based on pangrams and letter sets that had never been used before. These 4 puzzles introduced 10 new pangrams and added a total of 51 new words to the Bee lexicon, an average of 12.75 new words per puzzle.
27 (87.10%) were based on pangrams and letter sets that had been used before. These 27 puzzles used 38 recycled pangrams, introduced two pangrams previously disallowed (read more HERE), and added a total of 13 new words to the Bee lexicon, an average of 0.48 new words per puzzle.
Of the 27 puzzles with repeat letter sets and repeat pangrams:06 letter sets were used for the second time10 letter sets were used for the third time09 letter sets were used for the fourth time02 letter sets were used for the fifth time
Average “age” of all pangrams and letter sets this month: 2.97Average “age” of recycled pangrams and letter sets this month: 3.26
ALL THE PANGRAMS USED THIS MONTH
Brand-new pangrams are designated by the + sign; all the others are recycled pangrams.
ABUNDANCEANNIHILATIONBACKBOARDBACKDOORBELONGEDBLIZZARDBOOKMOBILEBOONDOGGLEBOONDOGGLEDCAMPAIGNCAMPAIGNINGCAMPINGCARTLOADCHANGEDCHILDLIKECHUTZPAHCLICKABLECOMBATANTCORKBOARDCYANIDEDOCTORALFLEXIONFLIGHTYFLOODINGFOLDINGFONDLING
GLACIOLOGY+GODCHILDILLOGICALLY+IMMUNIZEDINHALATIONINNOVATIONAL+INVITATIONAL+LOGICALLY+MEGAHITNONCOMBATANTOUTPOLLED+PANTHEONPHAETON+ [previously disallowed]PHONATE+ [previously disallowed]POLLUTED+SQUEAKY+TURNCOATTWITCHEDUNJAMMINGUNKNITTINGVARMINTVIOLATION+VIRTUALVOLITIONAL+
WORDS ADDED TO AND REMOVED FROM THE SPELLING BEE LEXICON THIS MONTH
WORDS ADDED TO THE LEXICON
pangrams shown in ALL CAPS
WORDS REMOVED FROM THE LEXICON
pangrams shown in ALL CAPS
Words added, not previously disallowed (BRAND-NEW WORDS) (IN)
donglegoldenlongednuancedGLACIOLOGYILLOGICALLYLOGICALLYmilkOUTPOLLEDPOLLUTEDoutdueloutdueledpoutedcandiedkitingknittingunknitunknittingaquasaseaasksassayassaysassesassessassessesauksayeseaseeaseseasyessayessayskayakskaysquakequakesquakyquaysqueasysakesakessasssassessassysaysseaquakeseaquakesseasskuaskuassqueaksqueaksSQUEAKYyaksyeasINNOVATIONALINVITATIONALVIOLATIONVOLITIONALvolant
Words added, previously disallowed
(OUT-IN)
See the list of all OUT-IN words HERE.
filthilyPHAETONPHONATE
Words allowed, then disallowed, then allowed again (IN-OUT-IN)
See the list of all IN-OUT-IN words HERE.
[none this month
Words disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed, then allowed (OUT-IN-OUT-IN)
See the list of all OUT-IN-OUT-IN words HERE.
[none this month]
Words previously allowed now disallowed (IN-OUT)
See the list of all IN-OUT words HERE.
martian
Words allowed, then disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed (IN-OUT-IN-OUT)
See the list of all IN-OUT-IN-OUT words HERE.
[none this month]
Words disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed (OUT-IN-OUT)
See the list of all OUT-IN-OUT words HERE.
Words disallowed, allowed, disallowed, allowed, disallowed (OUT-IN-OUT-IN-OUT)
See the list of all O-I-O-I-O words HERE.
[none this month
[none this month]